Sustainable Urban Development: Integrating Green Infrastructure and Smart Technologies for Future Cities

Abstract

This work discusses sustainable urban development in light of global urbanisation. With more than half of the world's population living in cities and urban growth estimated, sustainable urban development is more important than ever. The research combines green infrastructure and smart technologies to build environmentally sustainable, socially inclusive, and commercially prosperous communities. In the beginning, urbanisation causes resource consumption, social inequality, overloaded infrastructure, and climate change sensitivity. Resilience, resource efficiency, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability are also discussed in sustainable urban development. The first portion discusses green infrastructure and its benefits, including biodiversity preservation, climate mitigation and adaptation, improved air and water quality, leisure and health benefits, and cultural and historical value. Green infrastructure implementation confronts several challenges, including land use conflicts, financing and maintenance problems, knowledge and skill shortages, legislative limits, and public awareness and engagement issues. The second segment discusses smart technology and city digital transformation. It discusses smart cities, IoT, data analytics, connectivity, automation, and citizen engagement, as well as their potential benefits for resource management, mobility, environmental monitoring, energy efficiency, resilience, and data-driven decision-making. The digital divide, vendor lock-in, technological integration, user data privacy and security, and ethics are all covered. The next section discusses how smart technology and green infrastructure may collaborate via data-driven insights, resilience enhancement, adaptive urban design, community participation, and sustainability indicators. This section includes case studies of cities worldwide that have successfully integrated these components into their urban development plans. The paper finishes with sustainable urban development policy frameworks. These frameworks propose urban planning, zoning, data governance, public-private partnerships, community engagement, monitoring, and evaluation. Pilot projects, data platforms, capacity development, financial sources, and knowledge sharing are all discussed. The paper concludes that cities must emphasise resident well-being and environmental protection. Green infrastructure and smart technologies can help achieve this balance, increase urban resilience, and create resilient cities. It requires extensive policy frameworks, community engagement, and innovative efforts to build a sustainable and resilient urban future. This integration allows us to build communities that meet current needs and provide a better level of life for future generations.